Double bank holiday around St Patrick’s Day being considered - Varadkar

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said the Government is considering holding a double bank holiday around St Patrick's Day next year with a special permanent bank holiday being put in place on St Brigid's Day from 2023.

Mr Varadkar said while an additional bank holiday is on the cards for next year it won’t fall on St Brigid’s Day.

“We want to do an additional bank holiday next year. We would also like to have a new permanent bank holiday.

"In the last week or so we feel that announcing the public holiday for the 31st of January or February would be inappropriate given where we are. The pandemic isn't under control," he told RTÉ's Claire Byrne Show.

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“Public holidays are quite disruptive for health service. We also want to make sure we are not having an additional public holiday when our hospitals are in a difficult situation.

“One option we are looking at is the 18th of March. A double bank holiday and what we would do after that is a permanent bank holiday on St Brigid’s day,” he said.

An extra national holiday, to add to the nine current bank holidays, has been promoted for several months as one of a range of options for a pandemic bonus in acknowledgement of sacrifices rendered since the onset of Covid-19.

No agreement has been reached on monetary reward for frontline workers who risked most during the pandemic but a new bank holiday is seen as the most concrete option.